AVCHD to MPG Converter

AVCHD vs MPG — Which One Do You Actually Need?

If your camcorder footage plays fine everywhere you need it, stay on AVCHD: it carries H.264 video and is the more efficient format by a wide margin. Convert to MPG when the destination is genuinely old or genuinely fussy — a DVD authoring suite, a set-top box, a broadcast ingest chain, or an editor that only speaks MPEG program streams. This is a deliberate downconvert: the H.264 picture is re-encoded to MPEG-2 and the Dolby AC-3 soundtrack to MP2, so the file gets bigger and no sharper. What you buy is playback on hardware that has never heard of H.264.

Side-by-side Comparison

When to Stay on AVCHD

• Your editor already accepts it — Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Vegas all read AVCHD streams directly.
• You care about disk space: H.264 stores the same 1080-line picture in far fewer bits than MPEG-2 can.
• The footage is an archive master. Every re-encode costs a generation of quality, and MPEG-2 is the more expensive place to land.
• You need 1080/50p or 1080/60p progressive HD, where AVCHD 2.0's 28 Mbit/s ceiling was designed for exactly that job.

When to Convert to MPG

• You are authoring a DVD-Video disc, whose specification permits only MPEG-2 (up to 9.8 Mbit/s) or MPEG-1 (up to 1.856 Mbit/s) video.
• A pre-2010 DVD player, PVR, or in-car screen refuses the camcorder file outright.
• A broadcast or archival workflow ingests MPEG-2 program streams and nothing else.
• An old editing suite or capture-card utility lists .mpg as an accepted import but has no H.264 decoder.

How to Convert AVCHD to MPG

1. Upload Your AVCHD File: Drag and drop, or click "+ Add Files" to load the .MTS or .M2TS clip from a Sony, Panasonic, Canon, or JVC camcorder. Batch conversion is supported and every file inherits the same settings.
2. Confirm Video Codec, Audio Codec, and Quality Preset: Output starts on MPEG-2 video with MP2 audio, and File Compression starts on Quality Preset at Very High (Recommended). Switch the Video Codec to MPEG-1 only for Video CD work, and use the Audio Codec dropdown for AC3, MP3, or DTS.
3. Set Video Resolution and Trim (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep the original frame size, choose Preset Resolutions (height-only entries, with the width following your source's aspect ratio), or set Width x Height — the only way to reach a DVD-legal 720 x 480 NTSC or 720 x 576 PAL frame. Change Trim from Unchanged to Time Range to convert one segment of a long recording.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the .mpg. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.

Choosing Codecs for the Program Stream

Frequently Asked Questions

Will converting AVCHD to MPG improve the picture?

No, and it cannot. AVCHD already stores lossy H.264, and MPEG-2 — the codec inside the .mpg here — is both lossy and considerably less efficient. Re-encoding one lossy format into another can only preserve or degrade what is already there, never add detail back. Convert for compatibility with old hardware and DVD tooling, not in the hope of a sharper image.

Why is my MPG larger than the AVCHD file it came from?

Because MPEG-2 needs substantially more bitrate than H.264 to reach the same visual quality — that efficiency gap is the whole reason H.264 replaced it in consumer camcorders. AVCHD records HD at up to 24 Mbit/s (28 Mbit/s in AVCHD 2.0), and matching that picture in MPEG-2 costs more bits per second, so the output file grows. If size is the constraint, set File Compression to Specific file size and give the encoder a budget in MB.

Should I pick MPEG-2 or MPEG-1 for the output?

MPEG-2 for almost everything: DVD-Video, SVCD, broadcast ingest, and HD playback on older hardware all expect it, and it is what the Video Codec dropdown starts on. Choose MPEG-1 only when you specifically need Video CD compatibility, where the disc format allows just 352×240 (NTSC) or 352×288 (PAL) at up to 1.856 Mbit/s.

Which audio codec should I choose — MP2, MP3, AC3, or DTS?

MP2 is the default and the right answer for most program streams: it is one of the audio formats DVD-Video permits, and legacy hardware decodes it without complaint. Pick AC3 if you want a Dolby Digital soundtrack, which is also DVD-legal and useful for multichannel mixes. DTS is DVD-legal too but far less universally decoded. Reach for MP3 only when a specific piece of software has asked for it — it is not part of the DVD-Video audio set.

Can I burn the MPG straight to a playable DVD?

Not by itself. A DVD-Video disc needs a VIDEO_TS folder with IFO, BUP, and VOB files — VOB being the same MPEG program stream carrying navigation data — plus usually a menu structure. Author the .mpg into a compliant disc image with software such as DVDStyler or ImgBurn, keeping video at or below 9.8 Mbit/s and the frame size at 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL).

Does the MPG keep my camcorder's 1080 frame size?

It does if you leave Video resolution on the original setting; MPEG-2 has no problem carrying 1920×1080, and HD MPEG-2 was the backbone of early digital broadcast. But be aware that DVD-Video is a standard-definition format — if the file is destined for a disc you will need to scale down to 480p or 576p, either here with Preset Resolutions or later in your authoring tool.

Is MPG a better archive format than AVCHD?

No. For long-term storage, keeping the original camcorder files is the better move: they are smaller, they are the untouched capture, and every modern editor reads them. An MPEG-2 program stream is a delivery format for legacy playback chains, and creating one costs you a generation of quality. Archive the .mts files and generate an .mpg when a specific device or disc project demands it.

Is there a better target than MPG for modern devices?

Yes — for phones, browsers, smart TVs, and current editors, MP4 with H.264 plays essentially everywhere and stays far smaller than MPEG-2, so AVCHD to MP4 is the better conversion. If the destination is an Apple editing workflow, AVCHD to MOV is the natural choice. Keep MPG for the cases where the receiving device genuinely predates H.264.